What Does a Lost Sheep Offer?

Good Monday morning! Time to start the week again with a shout of joy to the Lord! Do you really mean to say that you did not arrive at work with a shout of joy this morning? Perhaps you are doing the wrong work, or, maybe you thought that you would get up and offer to do something for God today. From time to time, I may find in myself a tendency to offer God something. As though I am in a position to offer the Lord a favor or give to Him something that He does not already have. If I came to the cross to offer my all to the Savior, what is there left to give? And why is it that I think there is something I can do that the Lord cannot do for Himself far better? I suppose this thing comes from the constant admonition to serve the Lord. We must be about serving the Lord. We must offer our service to the Lord. After we hear statements like this enough, it is easier to understand how we can get our relationship to Almighty Providence a bit backwards. Truly there is nothing that I can do that the Lord cannot accomplish Himself better, faster, and with less waste. Most of the time, I cannot even claim to be a very good servant.

Selfishness, envy, and strife tend to cloud my service. What the Lord could do perfectly for Himself, I do imperfectly and I need His help to finish. With an eye toward a reward, I put myself into a task knowing that God has given me far more than I deserve already. In time, I come to wonder why God allows me a part in His kingdom at all. Even among my fellow humans there is surely a better servant than myself. But that isn't the right answer either, because God allows each of us a special part in His Church. When we look to our Lord Jesus, all of us come up short. I guess that once more it all comes down to God's great love for us.

There is nothing that I can do that God can not do better. And everything that I do, I must do in Christ who strengthens me. The point is not to try doing something for God, but to be available for God to work through me. Sometimes I come before God thinking that I have something to offer, but what can a lost sheep offer the shepherd except more work in finding and bringing back to the fold that same lost sheep?

Praise God for His love and providence!
Bucky